Casino Night

For my brother-in-law's birthday my sister threw him a party.

But not any party, it was a casino party.

She indicated "formal attire optional"on the invitation. However, when guests arrived not in suitable dress they were directed to other more appropriate options....from my costume box.
I guess you could say it was "formal attire enforced."

Aleena know's how to throw a party, it was a blast.

You Are Invited

We have a joke in the Steed family. 

It started a few years ago, my siblings and I put some apple juice in my mom's nice crystal goblets (who hasn't right?) 

Of course we were sipping on our beverages with our pinky's in the air toasting each other, laughing and having a good time.

My sweet mother came into the room to survey our activity and with a disapproving look she said "You guys, that is fake smoking and we don't do that."

What??

In utter confusion we asked:

"Fake smoking, mom?"

"Yes. That's not good, we don't do that."

At this point she still hadn't pick up on her mistake and we all thought it was pretty funny so what did we do? 

We made fun of her through sarcasm.

Raising our fingers to our mouths, in our best impression of someone with emphysema we start "fake smoking" and toasting to things like "good health." Or "Here's to two lungs."

Through a bashful grin she realized her slip up and we all had a good laugh.

Since then any time a wine glass is used it's known as fake smoking.

So this past week with the majority of my family home for Christmas and some bottled grape juice from my mom's home grown concord grapes, we knew we needed to have a formal dinner party with some inevitable "fake smoking" to really class it up.

Please enjoy the spontaneous photo shoot that ensued:

Trevor & April

Geoff & Aleena

Bryce & Sarah

Craig & Ruthie

Douglas Steed

You better believe that 3 months after having a baby I can fit in my wedding dress!!!

Well maybe not completely....

We loved the guys outfits, they seemed to all reflect their personalities.

Before even seeing Geoff I heard Aleena say "You look like a gay bartender"

...can't argue with that.

We did eventually get around to having dinner. 

The casserole was delish.

**There is no intention to offend anyone that is gay, drinks, or smokes: real or fake.

Fashion Advice: How to Thriftstore

So yesterday I told you that today you would get to hear all about my best thrift store find.

Are you excited?

Seriously prepare yourself to be jealous.

Here's how it went down.

I went to school at BYU-Idaho, let's be honest there isn't a whole lot to do in the small town of Rexburg. Which was actually perfect because we learned to make our own fun.

We would attend a lot of the activities the school put on, it was a tradition every couple of semesters to have a "D.I. Dance"

D.I.aka Deseret Industries. (Basically "Good Will")

Lizzy (roommate / bff) and I loved dances.

We would go to workout.

Really, we would.

We would get in our sweats and go down to the local club (Club Stratta) and dance so hard we would drip sweat.

TMI?

Maybe we did it for the attention? While everyone else was bumping and grinding those watching us would get to experience our best '80's aerobics moves.

BUT D.I. dances were the favorite, always the perfect excuse to go shopping at D.I.

So this particular time we went to the Idaho Falls D.I. because it's not nearly as picked over as the Rexburg one. Once inside we divided to conquer, about 15 minutes later we met up in the middle to show off our spoils.

As she is showing me some incredible lycra pants I say "I think I have those in Blue."

Then it hit me, a sad sad realization:

 I already own everything D.I. has to offer!

Totally dejected we start to leave thinking we will just have to put something together from the 5 bins of costumes we had in our storage.

But then something catches my eye...

I see some rubber boots hanging behind a bunch of flannel shirts.

As we get closer and peel back all the lumberjack wear we unveil one of the most amazing ensembles I have ever seen!

FISHING WADERS!

At this point in my life I actually had never been fishing but it doesn't take an expert to know it's always a good idea to have fishing waders.

We took them off the hook and right then and there slipped them over our clothes.... perfect fit!

We wore them up to the cash register where we paid $15 for our priceless finds.

As we were leaving an older gentleman says to me, "You are going to need to get a belt for those waders, you get any water in them they will anchor you to the floor of the crick."

Noted. "Oh, thanks."

Look at the utter joy on that face.

 Here we are at the dance... sweating our guts out in the rubber suits.

 Then of course I needed to test them out in the hot tub to see if they would anchor me to the ground.

Proud to say my $15 waders had no holes.

AND they made my hot tub experience more enjoyable.

Is it a Problem?

I have a problem.

I love to dress up.

Not just on Halloween.

Thrift stores are my weakness.

Here is a small sampling of my obsession:

(most all of the clothing worn in the pictures below are currently in my closet)



 Tomorrow I will tell you about my best thrift store find...

Did you know?!

The very last Harry Potter Movie came out last night?!

Of course you know. 

But did you go to an awesome Harry Potter party with a midnight showing? we did. Mostly because we wanted to dress up... and the Sweet Tooth Fairy made cauldron cakes for the party... AND we totally won prizes. Let me explain. 

Don't I make the best incredibly pregnant Dumbledore you have ever seen?

Best lookin Harry, smokin hot in his quidditch robes!

 So unfortunately I forgot to take pictures during the party, but it was put on by Launie at Gracious Rain. You can go to Launie's blog and check out some pictures of the event. For the past few months she has been collecting donations from businesses and etsy shops to give away as prizes. There were over 200 people there and everyone got a prize!

Trevor got an awesome fridge magnet that

makes sure everyone knows how you feel:                          I got this lovely Hogwarts 

                                                                                              crest necklace:

 There were also goodie bags on our seats in the theater full of: coupons, candy, pins, fake "dark mark" tattoos, MANY other treasures, and these fantastic crocheted finger puppets: (Dumbledore and Ron)

We had a blast!

And guess what? THE MOVIE WAS FANTASTIC!!! Seriously, it was by far the best Harry Potter movie! And you need to know, I judge these movies very harshly. I am a huge fan of the books and a not so big fan of the movies, but this one I feel like they finally did right. That review is even coming after staying up until 3:00AM and getting 3 hours of sleep last night, I usually hold that against the movie.

So Yes, I highly recommend Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2.

Fetch Yer Boots

We is mosey'n on down to the RODEO!

daggumit, didjya ever seen such a purty pair?

Yesseree Bubba,

We be so fortunate to call these fine folks Pals.

How 'bout them nickers? Made me pert near pink wit jealousy!

Mmmm,mmm he as fine as cream gravy.

We is ask'n Russ to pony up and take ours photograph,
this is what we git:

He ded.

Shore 'nuff, the second we ain't pay'n attention, we come out as clear as a 15-yer-olds face after a heafty dose of Proactive solution.

MERRY CHISTMAS EVERYONE!

I love Christmas, it's a time for fun and festivities. For family and friends, food and frost.
It's also that time of year that you can get all gussied up and look your best!
Fortunately this year Trevor and I have had a few Christmas parties to go to.
We would like to thank Bryan, Trevor's dad, and Grandma Donna for these FABULOUS outfits!

We attended the "Tree Lighting Ceremony" at Brett and Ashley Bardsley Home. We had a great time making gingerbread houses, eating, and learning about the true origins of the Christmas Tree...

Love these girls!
You can't help but adore Jennie's party dress, and Ashley's sweater, made by the blood and sweat of her sweet husband.

This last week we had the traditional "Nog Fest" party hosted by our good friends The Salmons. I wish we had gotten a group photo, but alas you must settle for the picture of Trevor when it was announced that he had won the contest for the ugliest "sweater." Seriously it is the best award he could possibly ever want!
(this is his stance of victory)

We are full of Christmas Spirit. Don't you love the Moose head? It's real, and huge!

Thank you Troy and Jemaica for a wonderful party!

P.S. on a side note. I want to give a shout out to my wonderful husband and best friend. I have always been a big "dress-er up-er" and he very much indulges me. Here are a couple pictures from Halloween.
We were Michelangelo and April O'Neil from the Ninja Turtles.

We had a 50's murder mystery dinner hosted by our greatest friends and Cousins, Tyler and Callie Markus. So much fun!

Love you baby!
Actually looking through these pictures, maybe the only reason he dresses up with me is because I let him do ugly things with his facial hair....